Indiana University South Bend, River Crossing Campus Apartments, Community Building

South Bend, Indiana

FIRM

CLIENT

Indiana University of South Bend

AREA

7,400 sq.ft.

TOTAL COST

$1,000,000.00

COMPLETION DATE

8/2008

Indiana University South Bend traditionally has been a commuter campus. Twenty-one years ago, the university had a vision to develop student housing in an effort to develop the campus into a "total" university package and a community entity. After an integrated design effort, the vision has become reality with the River Crossing ADDITIONAL INFORMATIONCOST PER SQ FT$130.00FEATURED IN2009 Architectural PortfolioSUB CATEGORYSpecialized Apartments.

At the heart of the campus apartments lies the community building, a 7,400-square-foot building serving the student body and campus community with a safe, clean, positive interaction space.

Every student from the apartments has access to the services the community building has to offer, including mail shipping/receiving; laundry facility; exercise room; two classrooms/study rooms; a computer lounge; a kitchenette with bar seating; and a large gathering room with a fireplace, large flatscreen TV and lounge seating.

Among the campus priorities is "reflect and expand a global perspective." IUSB has wanted to reduce the environmental impact of the campus construction by designing the community building to be sustainable. It has sought third-party verification through the LEED certification process.

Sustainable features of the community building include native/adaptive landscapes; rainwater harvesting through bio swales and rain gardens; minimized building footprint; geothermal loop system; higher solar-reflective material colors for the building’s exterior; high-performance thermal wall properties; daylighted interiors; naturally ventilated windows; low-VOC finishes; water-reducing fixtures; a high-efficiency HVAC system; 17 percent of materials were recycled materials (based on cost); 20 percent of materials were regionally harvested, extracted, and manufactured within a 500-mile radius (based on cost); and 90 percent of all construction waste was diverted from landfills.